DOWN  AROUND 
THE    RIVER 


PS 

2704 
D6 
1911 


U>  OTHER  POEMS 


JAMES  WHITCOMB  RILEY 


Vt'i" 


/I  \\ 


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DOWN  AROUND  THE 
RIVER 

AND  OTHER   POEMS 


BY 

JAMES    WHITCOMB   ^'LEY 


WITH     PICTURES    BY 

WILL  VAWTER 


INDIANAPOLIS 

THE   BOBBS-MKRRir.L   COMPANY 

PUBLISHERS 


Copyright,  191  i, 

BY 

JAMES   WHITCOMB    RILEY 


All  Rights  Reserved 


PRESS     OF 

BRAUNWOHTH    &    CO. 

BOOKBINDERS    AND    PRINTERS 

BROOKLYN,    N.    V. 


DOWN  AROUND  THE  RIVER 

NOON-TIME    an'    Jnne-time,    down    around    the 
river ! 
Have  to  furse  with  'Lizey  Ann — but  lawzy !   I  fergive 

her! 
Drives  me  off  the  place,  an'  says  'at  all  'at  she's  a-wish- 

in', 
Land  o'  gracious !  time'll  come  I'll  git  enough  o'  fishin' ! 
Little  Dave,  a-choppin'  wood,  never  'pears  to  notice; 
Don't  know  where  she's  hid  his  hat,  er  keerin'  where 

his  coat  is, — 
Specalatin',  more'n  like,  he  hain't  a-goin'  to  mind  me, 
An'  guessin'  where,  say  twelve  o'clock,  a  feller'd  likely 

find  me ! 


7 


DOWN   AROUND   THE   RIVER 


Noon-time  an'  June-time,  clown  around  the  river ! 
Clean  out  o'  sight  o'  home,  an'  skulkin'  under  kivver 
Of  the  sycamores,  jack-oaks,  an'   swamp-ash  an'  el- 

lum — 
Idles  all  so  jumbled  up,  you  kin  hardly  tell  'em ! — 
Tired,  you  know,  but  loviii  it,  an'  smilin'  jes'  to  think 

'at 
Any  S7vcctcr  tiredness  you'd  fairly  want  to  dri>ik  it ! 
Tired    o'    fishin' — tired    o'    fun — line    out    slack    an' 

slacker — 
All  you  want  in  all  the  world's  a  little  more  tobacker ! 

Hungry,  but  a-Jiidin'  it,  er  jes'  a-not  a-keerin  : — 
King-fisher  gittin'  up  an'  skootin'  out  o'  hearin' ; 
Snipes  on  the  t'other  side,  where  the  County  Ditch  is, 
Wadin'  up  an'  dow'n  the  aidge  like  they'd  rolled  their 

britches ! 
Old  turkle  on  the  root  kindo'-sorto'  drappin' 
Intoo  th'  worter  like  he  don't  know  how  it  happen! 
Worter,   shade  an'   all   so   mixed,   don't   know   which 

you'd  orter 
Say :  tli'  zvortcr  in  the  shadder — shaddcr  in  the  li/ortcr! 


DOWN   AROUND  THE   RIVER 


Somebody  hollerin' — 'way  around  the  bend  in 
Upper  Fork — where  yer  eye  kin  jes'  ketch  the  endin' 
Of  the  shiney  wedge  o'  wake  some  muss-rat's  a-makin' 
With  that  pesky  nose  o'  his !   Tlien  a  sniff  o'  bacon. 
Corn-bred  an'  'dock-greens — an'  little  Dave  a-shinnin' 
'Crost  the  rocks  an'  mussel-shells,  a-limpin'  an'  a-grin- 

nin', 
With  yer  dinner  fer  ye,  an'  a  blessin'  from  the  giver. 
Noon-time  an'  June-time,  down  around  the  river! 


ME  AND  MARY 


ALL  my  feelin's  in  the  Spring 
Gits  so  blame  contrary, 
1  can't  think  of  anything- 

Only  me  and  ]\Iary  ! 
"Ale  and  Mary!"  all  the  time, 
"Me  and  Mary !"  like  a  rhyme, 
Keeps  a-dingin'  on  till  I'm 
Sicko'  "Me  and  Mary!" 


10 


ME  AND   MARY 


"Me  and  Mary !    Ef  us  two 

Only  was  together — 
Playin'  like  we  used  to  do 

In  the  Aprile  weather !" 
All  the  night  and  all  the  day 
I  keep  wishin'  thataway 
Till  I'm  gittin'  old  and  gray 

Jes  on  "Me  and  Mary !" 

]\Iuddy  yit  along  the  pike 
Sence  the  Winter's  freezin', 

And  the  orchard's  back'ard-like 
Bloomin'  out  this  season ; 

Only  heerd  one  bluebird  yit — 

Nary  robin  ner  tomtit; 

What's  the  how  and  why  of  it? 
'Spect  it's  "Me  and  Mary !" 

Me  and  Mary  liked  the  birds — 

That  is,  Ma?'y  sorto' 
Liked  'em  first,  and  afterwards, 

W'y,  I  thought  I'd  ort'o. 
And  them  birds — ef  Mary  stood 
Right  here  with  me,  like  she  should — 
They'd  be  singin'.  them  birds  would, 

All  fer  me  and  Mary. 

12 


ME   AND   MARY 


Birds  er  not,  I'm  hopin'  some 

I  can  git  to  plowin' ! 
Ef  the  siin'll  only  come, 

And  the  Lord  allowin', 
Guess  to-morry  I'll  turn  in. 
And  git  down  to  work  ag'in; 
This  here  loaferin'  won't  win. 

Not  fer  me  and  Mary ! 


Fer  a  man  that  loves,  like  me, 

And's  afeard  to  name  it. 
Till  some  other  feller,  he 

Gits  the  girl — dad-shame-it! 
Wet  er  dry,  er  clouds  er  sun — 
Winter  gone  er  jes  begun — 
Outdoor  work  fer  me  er  none, 
No  more  "Me  and  Mary  !" 


13 


A  GLIMPSE  OF  PAN 


(CAUGHT  but  a  glimpse  of  him.   Summer  was  here, 
And  I  strayed  from  the  town  and  its  dust  and  heat 
And  walked  in  a  wood,  while  the  noon  was  near, 
Where  the  shadows  were  cool,  and  the  atmosphere 

Was  misty  with  fragrances  stirred  by  my  feet 
I'rom  surges  qt^  blossoms  tlmt  billowed  sheer 
O'er  the  prass^s,  green  and  sweet. 


H 


A   GLIMPSE  OF   PAN 


And  I  peered  through  a  vista  of  leaning  trees, 

Tressed  with  long  tangles  of  vines  that  swept 
To  the  face  of  a  river,  that  answered  these 
With  vines  in  the  wave  like  the  vines  in  the  breeze, 

Till  the  yearning  lips  of  the  ripples  crept 
And  kissed  them,  with  quavering  ecstasies, 

And  gurgled  and  laughed  and  wept. 

And  there,  like  a  dream  in  a  swoon,  I  swear 
I  saw  Pan  lying, — his  limbs  in  the  dew 

And  the  shade,  and  his  face  in  the  dazzle  and  glare 

Of  the  glad  sunshine ;  while  everywhere, 
Over,  across,  and  around  him  blew 

Filmy  d'ragonflies  hither  and  there, 

And  little  white  butterflies,  two  and  two. 
In  eddies  of  odorous  air. 


I? 


THE  CIRCUS  PARADE 


THE    Circus! — The    Circus! — The    throb    of    the 
drums, 
And  the  blare  of  the  horns,  as  the  Band-wagon  comes; 
The  clash  and  the  clang  of  the  cymbals  that  beat. 
As  the  glittering  pageant  winds  down  the  long  street! 

In  the  Circus  parade  there  is  glory  clean  down 
From  the  first  spangled  horse  to  the  mule  of  the  Clown, 
With  the  gleam  and  the  glint  and  the  glamour  and 

glare 
Of  the  days  of  enchantment  all  glimmering  there! 

l6 


THE    CIRCUS    PARADE 


And  there  are  the  banners  of  silvery  fold 
Caressing-  the  winds  with  their  fringes  of  gold, 
And  their  high-lifted  standards,  with  spear-tips  aglow, 
And  the  helmeted  knights  that  go  riding  below. 

There's  the  Chariot,  wrought  of  some  marvelous  shell 
The  Sea  gave  to  Neptune,  first  washing  it  well 
With  its  fabulous  waters  of  gold,  till  it  gleams 
Like  the  galleon  rare  of  an  Argonaut's  dreams. 

And  the  Elephant,  too,  (with  his  undulant  stride 
That  rocks  the  high  throne  of  a  king  in  his  pride), 
That  in  jungles  of  India  shook  from  his  flanks 
The  tigers  that  leapt  from  the  Jujubee-banks. 

Here's  the  long,  ever-changing,  mysterious  line 
Of  the  Cages,  with  hints  of  their  glories  divine 
From  the  barred  little  windows,  cut  high  in  the  rear, 
Where  the  close-hidden  animals'  noses  appear. 

Here's  the  Pyramid-car,  with  its  splendor  and  flash, 
And  the  Goddess  on  high,  in  a  hot-scarlet  sash 
And  a  pen-wiper  skirt ! — O,  the  rarest  of  sights 
Is  this  "Queen  of  the  Air"  in  cerulean  tights! 


THE   CIRCUS   PARADE 


Then  the  far-away  clash  of  the  cymbals,  and  then 
The  swoon  of  the  tune  ere  it  wakens  again 
With  the  capering-  tones  of  the  gallant  cornet 
That  go  dancing  away  in  a  mad  minuet. 

The  Circus ! — The  Circus ! — The  throb  of  the  drums, 
And  the  blare  of  the  horns,  as  the  Band-wagon  comes ; 
The  clash  and  the  clang  of  tlie  cymbals  that  beat, 
As  the  glittering  pageant  winds  down  the  long  street. 


19 


THE  MUSKINGUM  VALLEY 


THE  Muskingum  Valley! — How  longin'  the  gaze 
A  feller  throws  back  on  its  long  summer-days, 
When  the  smiles  of  its  blossoms  and  iny  smiles  wuz 

one- 
And-the-same,  from  the  rise  to  the  set  o'  the  sun : 
Wher'  the  hills  sloped  as  soft  as  the  dawn  down  to 

noon, 
And  the  river  run  l)y  like  an  old'  fiddle-tune, 
And  the  hours  glided  past  as  the  bubbles  'ud  glide, 
All  so  loaferin'-like,  'long  the  path  o'  the  tide. 

In  the  Muskingum  Valley — it  'peared  like  the  skies 
Looked  lovin'  on  me  as  my  own  mother's  eyes. 
While  the  laugliin'-sad  song  of  the  stream  seemed  to  be 
Like  a  lullaby  angels  was  wastin'  on  me — 


20 


THE   MUSKINGUM   VALLEY 


Tel,  swimmin'  the  air,  like  the  gossamer's  thread, 
'Twixt  the  blue  underneath  and  the  blue  overhead. 
My  thoughts  went  a-stray  in  that  so-to-speak  realm 
Wher'  Sleep  bared  her  breast  as  a  piller  fer  them. 

In  the  Muskingum  Valley,  though  far,  far  a-way, 
I  know  that  the  winter  is  bleak  there  to-day — 
No  bloom  ner  perfume  on  the  brambles  er  trees — 
Wher'  the  buds  used  to  bloom,  now  the  icicles  freeze. — 
That  the  grass  is  all  hid  'long  the  side  of  the  road 
Wher'   the  deep  snow  has   drifted  and   shifted   and 

blowed — 
And  I  feel  in  my  life  the  same  changes  is  there, — 
The  frost  in  my  heart,  and  the  snow  in  my  hair. 

But,  Muskingum  Valley!  my  memory  sees 

Not  the  white  on  the  ground,  but  the  green  in  the 

trees — 
Not  the  froze'-over  gorge,  but  the  current,  as  clear 
And  warm  as  the  drop  that  has  jes  trickled  here ; 
Not  the  choked-up  ravine,  and  the  hills  topped  with 

snow. 
But  the  grass  and  the  blossoms  I  knowed  long  ago 
When  my  little  bare  feet  wundered  down  wher'  the 

stream 
In  the  Muskingum  Valley  flowed  on  like  a  dream. 

22 


THE  TREE-TOAD 


••  'QCUR'OUS-LIKE,"  said  the  tree-toad, 
^     "I've  twittered  fer  rain  all  day ; 
And  I  got  up  soon, 
And  hollered  tel  noon — 
But  the  sun,  hit  blazed  away, 

Tel  I  jest  clumb  down  in  a  crawfish-hole, 
Weary  at  hart,  and  sick  at  soul ! 

"Dozed  away  ler  an  hour. 

And  I  tackled  the  thing  agin : 

And  I  sung,  and  sung, 

Tel  I  knowed  my  lung 
Was  jest  about  give  in  ; 

And  then,  thinks  I,  ef  hit  don't  rain  nozv, 

They's  nothin'  in  singin',  anyhow ! 


-j 


THE   TREE-TOAD 


"Onc't  in  a  while  some  farmer 
Would  come  a-drivin'  past ; 

And  he'd  hear  my  cry, 

And  stop  and  sigh — 
Tel  I  jest  laid  back,  at  last, 

And  I  hollered  rain  tel  I  thought  my  th'oat 

Would  bust  wide  open  at  ever'  note ! 

"But  I  fetched  her !— O,  /  fetched  her-  - 
'Cause  a  little  while  ago, 

As  I  kindo'  set. 

With  one  eye  shet. 
And  a-singin'  soft  and  low, 

A  voice  drapped  down  on  my  fevered  brain, 

A-sayin', — 'Ef  you'll  jest  hush  I'll  rain!'  " 


24 


IN  SWIMMING-TIME 


CLOUDS  above,  as  white  as  wool, 
Drifting  over  skies  as  blue 
As  the  eyes  of  beautiful 

Children  when  they  smile  at  you : 
Groves  of  maple,  elm  and  beech, 

With  the  sunshine  sifted  throusfh 
Branches,  mingling  each  with  each. 
Dim  with  shade  and  bright  with  dew. 

Stripling  trees,  and  poplars  hoar, 
Hickory  and  sycamore. 
And  the  drowsy  dogwood,  bowed 
Where  the  rip])les  laugh  aloud, 
And  the  crooning  creek  is  stirred 

To  a  gaiety  that  now 
Mates  the  warble  of  the  bird, 

Teetering  on  the  hazel-bough. 


25 


IN   SWIMMING-TIME 


Grasses  long  and  fine  and  fair 

As  your  schoolboy-sweetheart's  hair 

Backward  stroked  and  twirled  and  twined 

By  the  fingers  of  the  wind : 

Vines  and  mosses  interlinked 

Down  dark  aisles  and  deep  ravines, 
Where  the  stream  rims,  willow-brinked, 

Romid  a  bend  where  some  one  leans, 
Faint,  and  vague,  and  indistinct 

As  the  like-reflected  thing 

In  the  current  shimmering. 

Childish  voices,  further  on, 
Where  the  truant  stream  has  gone. 
Vex  the  echoes  of  the  wood 
Till  no  word  is  understood — 
Save  that  we  are  well  aware 
Happiness  is  hiding  there : — 
There,  in  leafy  coverts,  nude 

Little  bodies  poise  and  leap, 
Spattering  the  solitude 
And  the  silence,  everywhere — 

Mimic  monsters  of  the  deep ! — 


26 


,..^. 


IN   SWIMMING-TIME 


Wallowing-  in  sandy  shoals — 
Plunging  headlong  out  of  sight, 
And,  with  spurtings  of  delight, 

Clutching  hands,  and  slippery  soles, 
Climbing  up  the  treacherous  steep, 

Over  which  the  spring-board  spurns 

Each  again  as  he  returns ! 

Ah !  the  glorious  carnival ! 

Purple  lips — and  chattering  teeth- 
Eyes  that  burn — But,  in  beneath, 

Every  care  beyond  recall — 
Every  task  forgotten  quite — 
And  again  in  dreams  at  night. 

Dropping,  drifting  through  it  all ! 


28 


JUNE 

O  QUEENLY  month  of  indolent  repose! 
I  drink  thy  breath  in  sips  of  rare  perfume, 
As  in  thy  downy  lap  of  clover-bloom 
I  nestle  like  a  drowsy  child  and  doze 
The  lazy  hours  away.   The  zephyr  throws 
The  shifting  shuttle  of  tlie  Summer's  loom 
And  weaves  a  damask-work  of  gleam  and  gloom 
Before  thy  listless  feet.    The  lily  blows 
A  bugle-call  of  fragrance  o'er  the  glade ; 
And,  wheeling  into  ranks,  with  plume  and 
s])ear. 
Thy  harvest-armies  gather  on  parade ; 

While,  faint  and  far  away,  yet  pure  and  clear, 
A  voice  calls  out  of  alien  lands  of  shade  : — 
All  hail  the  Peerless  Goddess  of  the  Year! 


29 


LO 


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